Buffalo (10-2) at Los Angeles Rams (6-6)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, FOX
BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 3 1/2.
Against the spread: Bills 8-4; Rams 5-7.
Series record: Bills lead 9-5.
Last meeting: Bills beat Rams 31-10 in Inglewood, Calif. on Sept. 8, 2022.
Last week: Bills beat San Francisco 35-10; Rams beat New Orleans 21-14.
Bills offense: overall (10), rush (11), pass (17), scoring (2).
Bills defense: overall (11), rush (18), pass (8), scoring (T-6).
Rams offense: overall (18), rush (26), pass (11), scoring (20).
Rams defense: overall (25), rush (28), pass (15), scoring (21).
Turnover differential: Bills plus-17; Rams plus-3.
Bills player to watch
WR Amari Cooper. He has so far played a valuable bit role since being acquired in a trade with Cleveland. He’s scored a TD and made a highlight reel play last weekend by making a one-handed catch and, before getting tackled, lateraled the ball back to Josh Allen to set up the quarterback’s passing and receiving TD. Cooper’s getting healthier after being hampered by a left wrist injury, and is expected to play a larger role in the passing attack down the stretch.
Rams player to watch
LB Omar Speights. Little was expected of Speights as an undrafted free agent out of LSU, but he has quickly established himself as a promising piece of the Rams young defense. Speights had a career-high 10 tackles versus the Saints and was constantly around the ball. Los Angeles will need him to maintain that level of activity against Buffalo’s high-powered offense.
Key matchup
Rams offensive line vs. Bills defensive line. Keep QB Matthew Stafford upright, and open up holes for RB Kyren Williams. It’s a pretty simple formula for the Rams, and they executed it well in New Orleans, letting Williams rush for 104 yards while Stafford was only sacked twice. Buffalo has two disruptive ends in Gregory Rousseau (6 1/2 sacks, 15 tackles for loss) and A.J. Epenesa (5 sacks), so keeping them in check will be a challenge. The Bills are also proving to be sturdier in stopping the run in recent weeks, though there was statistical regression last week with San Francisco reduced to keeping the ball on the ground in heavy snowfall.
Key injuries
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid resumed practicing, though on a limited basis, after missing two games with a knee injury. He is listed as questionable. … Rookie WR Keon Coleman (right wrist) is questionable after being limited in practice all week. He sat out the last three games. … Starting S Taylor Rapp is good to go after landing on the injury report this week with a shoulder/neck injury. … Rookie DT DeWayne Carter (left wrist) is in position to be activated off IR barring a setback. … Stafford sprained his ankle against the Saints, but he doesn’t expected to be limited by the injury and didn’t have a designation on Friday’s report. … Rams LT Alaric Jackson is expected to play through a foot injury. … OLB Jared Verse should play despite rolling his ankle in practice Thursday. … TE Tyler Higbee, who sustained a serious knee injury in the NFC wild-card game at Detroit, won’t make his season debut this week despite getting in three full practices.
Series notes
The Bills thumped the Rams at SoFi Stadium in the 2022 season opener, heralding a miserable defense of its Super Bowl title for Los Angeles. … Buffalo has won three straight in the series, scoring 30 points or more in each of those victories.
Stats and stuff
The Bills have already clinched their fifth straight AFC East title, and look to catch the Kansas City Chiefs (11-1), whom they beat last month, for the conference’s top seed. … Buffalo is 20-2 in regular-season games played in December and January since 2020. … The Bills have won seven straight since losing consecutive road games at Baltimore and Houston. They’re one win from matching the franchise’s second-longest streak set first in 1990 and again spanning the 2023-24 seasons. The team record is 11, spanning the 1963-64 seasons. … Buffalo has at least 10 wins through 12 games for the fifth time in team history and first since 1991. … Allen has a record of 30-5 when he doesn’t commit a turnover. His two lost fumbles and five interceptions account for all seven of Buffalo’s giveaways this season. And he’s 43-27 overall when committing a turnover. … With 107 yards rushing, including a career-high 65-yard TD run last weekend, RB James Cook topped 100 yards for the fifth time in his career. Cook has four TDs in his past three games and 12 overall (including one receiving) this season. His 11 TDs rushing are the most by a Bills player since LeSean McCoy had 13 in 2016. … Edge rusher Von Miller’s 127 1/2 sacks lead active players and rank 17th overall, a half-sack behind Rickey Jackson. … Buffalo has forced at least one takeaway in each game this season, including three forced fumbles against the 49ers. … The Rams haven’t forced a turnover in their past two games. They had seven takeaways in the three games prior to this stretch. … Williams earned his second 100-yard game of the season against the Saints. The 6.9 yards per carry average was Williams’ best of the season. … Since getting ejected in the first half in Seattle, WR Puka Nacua has 30 receptions for 394 yards and two touchdowns over the past four games. He had five catches for 56 yards and a score versus the Saints, his seventh game with at least 50 yards and a touchdown. … Stafford threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns in the Superdome, the second time in the past seven games the Rams won with Stafford not passing for 200 yards. They did that just twice in Stafford’s first 46 games with the team. … CB Cobie Durant had two tackles for loss against New Orleans, the first time in his three-year career having multiple negative stops without a sack. … After starting 16 for 19 on field goals, rookie PK Joshua Karty has missed his past two attempts. He did not attempt a field goal against the Saints, with coach Sean McVay choosing to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the New Orleans 25-yard line in the second quarter.
Fantasy tip
Williams has put together consecutive solid outings, with at least 70 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles and Saints. The one part of his game that still hasn’t resurfaced is as a passing game option, where Williams has one grab for 9 yards over the past three games. Williams is too useful as a receiver to not get him involved there, so expect McVay to dial up some calls, to the benefit of those in point-per-reception formats.
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